Hey Marlin45,
Is the powder the old winchester 680?
Any idea on the velocity you are getting with that load?

I know your into reloading but have you heard about or tried the corbon 150 grain 763x39 load? Just about beats anything I have heard of, it's got the weight and power, it's only been out since late 2005.
150 grains soft point, 2300fps = 1762 ft lbs of energy, that is impressive. It ain't cheap over at $30 a box of 20, but it would be fun to try.

no, I don't have a chrono so no idea of velocity. Yes, it is Win. 680. I've read a place or 2 of Corbon's loading - I'm sure it can be duplicated by a handloader. I've been experimenting with Speer 150 gr .308 slugs myself w/good results. any idea of the diameter of the slug Corbon uses in their loading?

Cor-Bon has this data from a 20 inch barrel. What do you think this load will Chrony at with an 18.5" Mini-30 barrel? My guess would be about 75+fps less or 2225fps. I can get 2230fps out of my Mini-30 with 150gr bullets using some heavily compressed, H322, AA 2015 and 10X. Just haven't found a 150gr bullet that has the terminal performance I am looking for. Do you have any details on the bullet itself?

i have a couple boxes Steve. it is the Barnes copper hollow point. i've used it on whitetail with good results. i'm sure it would work for hogs. upon further review, i'm wrong. i was thinking of my .270 rounds. the x39 are a jsp. sorry for my confusion.

Link to 150 grain sp Cor-Bon at midway
I would think that it would be a .310 or .311 bullet. They also sell a 123 grain self defense, I haven't seen a manufactured load in 762x39 in anything less than .310 yet.
No details on the bullet but cor-bon usually uses other manufacturer's bullets if they can and add their special blend of high test powder.
The bullet I think would be great is one not made any longer it was a 135 grain sp made either by sierria or speer. It was a pistol bullet for thompson centerfire pistols, guaranteed expansion .308 diameter.
They show up occasionally on gunbroker.com. If you see some get some.

The bullet I think would be great is one not made any longer it was a 135 grain sp made either by sierria or speer. It was a pistol bullet for thompson centerfire pistols, guaranteed expansion .308 diameter.
They show up occasionally on gunbroker.com. If you see some get some.

Sierra made a 135gr SSP(Single Shot Pistol). I have about 700 of these left. They are the perfect bullet for the 7.62x39. Wish I could find more! Hornady also made a 130gr SSP that has been discontinued.

Yep, that's the one, being a pistol bullet it's pretty much guaranteed expansion for hunting and the weight is pretty good at 135 grains. I'd just shoot some 125 remington's and save the 135's for critter getting. They go for $20-$25 per hundred on the gunbroker when they show up. I have a load for the 135's using the 762x39 case, I'll see if I can dig it out.

anything is better than paying 2$$ a shot for Corbon, the 125gr H-P is even more costly. they have a website and fone # I'm gonna give 'em a call and check what diameter and maker of slug the 150 gr is. I know they make bullets so it may be something they make themselves. Sierra has the .311 dia. 150 gr slug for the .303 Brit but I didn't have too good groups w/the 125gr .311 for it that I loaded. I've done much better with .308 150gr Speer. need to shoot it into some wet fone books to check expansion I suppose.

Here is a link to a loading table I already posted look down to #7 and keep clicking on the picture until it gets big enough to read. The article is by layne Simpson for shooting times. Pretty good article I thought he gave a load for the 135 SP pistol, but he doesn't, just the 130 grain which should be pretty darn close. He does mention in the article that if he ever were to use the mini 30 for deer he would use the 135 SP pistol bullet, because of the reliable expansion at mini 30 velocities.

And hey Marlin guess what his load for the 110 grain sp Hornady is the same as yours 25 grains of 680, his chronographed at 2581fps, so yours ought to be right about there also.

Have you ever used the ballistics program at the Norma web site? I'll post a link, it's a gas to play with, using B.C & bullet weight & velocity it gives you all kinds of info, it's almost as fun as shooting....well on second thought ...not.

no, I haven't checked Norma's data. Hornady makes a .310 125gr S-P (haven't tryed it) and also the .310 123 gr VMax which I have done well with. wish they made a .310 150 gr in that design. I've checked several sites but no 150gr .310 slugs, closest is .311 150's (Sierra) made for the Brit .303, and I tryed the 125gr for them it didn't shoot as good as other .310 125gr slugs. Winchester's 125gr .310 does OK but I shot 2 does (filled my doe tags) with it and it came apart the jacket seperated. don't quite trust it to do any serious hunting with. so I'm wondering where Corbon gets the 150gr slug they load if it is .310.

so I'm wondering where Corbon gets the 150gr slug they load if it is .310.

Good point. If it is not one of their own design, my guess is that it is .311 or even .312. Then again it could be a .308 also. I also think that all of the 150+ grain bullets available in .311-.312 are designed for much higher velocities than the 7.62x39 can produce.

yeah I checked the site, that seems reasonable enough. I'm going to the local (somewhat) reloader supply today it may be that he has some of those on the rack, doubtful tho. with shpg what it is it's almost prohibitive to buy a small order.

You guys got me curious so I called cor-bon, talked to the tech section.
Ya sitting down?
guy went and pulled the folder on the 7.62x39's, the 150 grain cor-bon load uses a Sierra pro-hunter .308 bullet.

their 123 grain 7.62x39 is a barnes tsx bt .310 diameter pretty spendy in it's own right (about $.82 apop at midway) but pure copper and will hold together, since it was developed for the x39 I am thinking it should expand reliably.

I talked to Sierra a few years ago about the Pro Hunter, twice. One tech told me that the 150gr is way to hard and will just pencil through at 7.62x39 velocities. Another tech told me that although the Pro Hunter is designed for velocities much higher than the 7.62x39 can produce it will still expand some. I'm not sure what "some" means. I gave up on the Sierra Pro Hunter as a hunting bullet in my Mini-30. The 7.62x39 is handicapped enough already without shooting a bullet that may not perform.

evidently Hornady still makes the 130 gr. .308 SSP slug, flat base soft-point. this may be a good one to try. I checked 'Hornady,com' and it's listed as available. I don't trust the Winchester .310 and the Hornady .310 VMax is listed as a 'vamint' bullet but it sure does shoot good in my factory barrel.

I found the data, about the most concise loadings for the mini 30 I have found, some one did a lot of good record keeping here. Keep clicking on pictures until they get as big as they can for best viewing.
Part 1Attachment 13415

Part 2, keep clicking on pictures until they get big. If any one wants I will email the jpegs, about 1.3MB total size, it will have better clarity and you will be able to enlarge them for easier viewing, also can store them. Just send me an email or PM with your email address. From the penetration data, looks like the 155 grain pistol is the winner, with penetration, weight retention and expansion all considered. It did slightly better than the 130 Hornady pistol. All in all a pretty good study in mini 30 7.62x 39 loadsAttachment 13419